Tomorrow’s Electric Cars

The electrification of tomorrow’s cars are going into high gear since there are some rules mandating the percentage of new cars to be sold has to be 4.5 percent electric by 2018 for all the states whom adopted California emission standards.

The percentage of zero emission electric or plug in hybrid cars will have to increase to 22 percent by 2025. The companies whom can’t meat the mandate will have to buy clean air credit (ZEV credit**) from Tesla* or Nissan since they are the major provider of the credits. Since Tesla became a major manufacturer of electric cars all the other car manufacturers are getting worried.

2015 Tesla S

Tesla’s 2015 S model is priced form US $69,900 – US $93,400.

They are willing to spend billions to catch up or surpass Tesla and their future electric automobiles, in particular the Germans will take the lead in the expenditure of major research and development of a slew of new plug in hybrids and near zero or full electric zero emission cars.Please keep in mind Tesla will not stand by and watch their success to be tarnished by others so it will be interesting to watch as the titans of the car manufacturing will fight out the next stage of the future of the automobile, stay tuned and enjoy the ride.*When Tesla Motors reports its first-ever profit, much of the money will come courtesy of the state of California.

In its zeal to push electric cars into the market, the state has created a system in which Tesla can make as much as $35,000 extra on each sale of its luxury Model S electric sports sedans. That’s because the Palo Alto company qualifies for coveted state environmental credits that it can turn into cash.

These Zero Emission Vehicle credits could put as much as $250 million in Tesla’s coffers this year, according to one Wall Street analyst, and they are a key reason the 10-year-old automaker has survived this long. Tesla gets to sell the credits to other automakers that need them to satisfy tough California regulations.

**So wait, what’s a ZEV credit? California forces automakers (based on their sales) to sell a certain number of zero emissions vehicles in order to generate credits; the more ZEVs you sell, the more credits you earn. Companies with a positive credit balance can sell them to other manufacturers who don’t meet the set standard at an undisclosed rate.

The most drastic change though came in GM, which went from buying over 876 ZEV credits in 2013, to needing to buy just 4.4 in 2014. That’s a HUGE turnaround, and it can be attributed to steady Chevy Volt sales, as well as the Chevy Spark EV.

2015 Chevy Volt

The Canadian EV credit is depending on the size of the battery and it’s up to $8,250 per vehicle in Ontario, and there is also a government grant – rebate for a dedicated home charging station to endorse EV or plug in hybrid vehicle use.

Further more, there is a green plate in Ontario for most plug in hybrids and for EV cars, which currently allows you to drive on the HOV lanes in Ontario with a single occupant, again to endorse low emission vehicle use true out the province.

BMW i3 Electric Car

The facts you may like to know about the new BMW i3 electric car.

The vehicle is made of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic). You may recognize the material from the M3 coupe or the M6 roof which was made from the same material as well.

The question remains why invent a new way of making a vehicle when you already have made and perfected the steel body construction for many decades? The answer is the weight savings are substantial to offset the weight of the battery pack. It was important to start with a new way to approach this matter. Continue Reading…

BMW ActiveHybrid 5

BMW ActiveHybrid 5. Is it the ultimate hybrid – driving machine?

The ActiveHybrid 5 is BMW’s contribution to the world of hybrid motoring. It was created to use electric motors, without sacrificing the ability to get across the intersection and up to speed quicker than most of the other cars. The 5-series hybrid not only use electric motors but also does so with considerable style and operating with a combination gasoline electric power train.

There are obviously many other alternative offerings if you are looking for hybrid car, even in the mid-size-luxury segment, but for the moment, at least, the BMW ActiveHybrid 5 represents the most sophisticated performance hybrid yet, a seamlessly smooth driving machine, that advances the state of the art in its class.